Mooring policy

Marine reserves in Western Australia are vested in the Marine Parks and Reserves Authority (MPRA). The Authority's function includes the development of marine reserve policies and management plans, and oversees their implementation by the Department of Environment and Conservation, on behalf of the community.

A joint policy has been developed by the MPRA and the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) for the management of moorings in marine reserves of Western Australia.
The mooring policy has been developed to:

• maintain the ecological and social values of marine reserves by minimising impacts of uncontrolled mooring and anchoring activities
• enhance user safety, access and equity in relation to moorings in marine reserves, and
• provide a framework to accommodate present and future mooring usage patterns in marine reserves.

DEC currently manages a total of approximately 1.5 million hectares of Western Australian waters, Increasingly, Western Australians are enjoying these marine environments, whether it be for recreational swimming, fishing or diving, or with a commercial tour operator. With this increase, there is a need to manage mooring and anchoring locations as to ensure adequate protection of the marine environment.

The primary rationale for allowing mooring in marine reserves is to facilitate safer options for vessel fastening while minimising the potential impacts of anchor damage on the environment. Moorings can, where appropriately designed and sited, play an important role in protecting areas of high conservation values (eg. coral reef and seagrass) by minimising the need for anchoring, thus reducing potential anchor damage. Moorings also facilitate better access to locations of interest (eg. dive sites) and provide a level of security with regards to safety for vessels. With the wide range of site characteristics, habitat types, and patterns and level of human use from reserve to reserve, there is a need for a policy that provides appropriate management arrangements to be implemented.
To ensure the public are aware of how the MPRA and DEC propose to address the issues of equity, environmental impact, demand and capacity, and liability within marine reserves in a flexible manner, the  Mooring Policy 59 (352.74 kB) was developed

Mooring and Anchoring Plans are also being drafted for each marine reserve, which identify the areas that are of ecological and social significance, and assign mooring areas where appropriate.